Cooler for the dead good enough for Guantanamo reporters

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — Several dozen media members brought in last week by the Pentagon to watch a day or two of the first U.S. war-crimes tribunal since World War II got a ghoulish surprise when they went in search of drinking water at Camp Justice.

Bottled water in Tent City, where reporters are kept, is chilled in a 3,470-pound shipping refrigerator meant for the dead.

It's marked ''MORTUARY'' on the side and has shelves to accommodate eight body bags being airlifted by the U.S. Air Force.

It's all part of the ''Expeditionary Legal Complex,'' which can be dismantled and moved elsewhere should either presumed presidential candidate make good on his pledge to close the prison complex at Guantanamo.

An escort who briefs visiting news media assured that the $32,000 ADR-300 mortuary had never been used for its intended purpose.